Samsung trademarks Galaxy Iris and Galaxy Eyeprint in Korea and the US

Fingerprint sensors are becoming all the rage these days, with nearly all well-known smartphone manufacturers implementing the feature into their high-end handsets, but iris scanning technology has been something of a whisper. Samsung has been considering the possibility of implementing iris scanners since at least the Galaxy S5, but the company’s first explicit jump into the future of biometric security took off with the Korean giant’s Galaxy Tab Iris announced one week ago that is a tablet for businesses and the government in India. In other words, Samsung’s current iris recognition software is only available to officials, but the company is, as always, looking to bring its technology mainstream to the consumer public.

This explains the company’s trademark registrations for “Galaxy Iris” and “Galaxy Eyeprint” in the European Union that we reported on two weeks ago. Now, Samsung has filed for the same trademarks in Korea, its home country, and the US, yet another indication that Samsung intends to bring iris scanning technology to the mainstream this year.

Samsung has trademarked two terms, but we have little information as to what Samsung intends to do with these terms. What we do know, however, is that, with an import listing that seems to confirm the Galaxy Note 7 edge as Samsung’s “Next Big Thing,” the Korean giant could start a whole new marketing campaign with the words “Keep Your Eye on the Galaxy.” Of course, nothing is yet confirmed, but Samsung’s actions to trademark terms in recent years before an unveil (hint: Write on PDFs for the Galaxy Note 5) indicate that it’s probable iris scanning is in the works for the next great Galaxy.